legionofalters

[legionofalters]

David had never really felt comfortable talking to his adoptive parents - they'd never understood what he was going through, and it never felt like they'd cared much either. Perhaps the adoption explained that, he rationalised.

His real father was effectively a stranger. Charles Xavier, a man he'd only ever seen in books and TV, a figurehead of the mutant movement - David saw him through rose-tinted eyes. Still, he hesitated. A lifetime of tragedy was too much to summarise in brief, especially to a stranger. He desperately wanted Charles to love him, to not reject him.

"I don't know what to say, dad. A lot has happened... and we don't really know each other."

@fireinmadness ∣ ☕

"You can talk to me, David. You know that... don't you?"

[legionofalters]

joshriku / @joshriku: WORLD'S NORMALEST FATHER BEHAVIOR

one thing abt si spurrier he's not afraid to write charles as the sopping wet miserable meow meow he is + for that i salute him

(also thinking abt WHY charles treats his direct fam as inherently untrustworthy + dangerous to the point of self-sabotage/self-fulfilling prophecy 😬) lets get in2 it

[transferring over this long ass analysis thread from twitter]

charles' familial exp is an emotionally absent dad that died in his youth (that he later found out was experimenting on him), an abusive stepfather, an abused + alcoholic mother, and an abusive stepbrother that actively hates him + tried to break into his house to kill him 😭

charles is scared of david not just bc of his (past) erratic behavior or destructive potential but bc he is just generally scared of his direct family, w whom he has a uniquely maladaptive attachment. he instead fills his need for family w ppl he chose + has authority over

w david tho… since their meeting charles has on + off avoided him, shunted him off to other ppls care, + seemed unable to emotionally connect w him. he has a fatalist outlook towards david's entire existence + their relationship but is also unable to abandon him + does love him

charles has a track record of this - we can see it in his relationship with cain

david is nothing like cain - nearly all the pain davids caused charles is bc of other parties manipulating him + taking advantage of his disabilities - but cain is useful to examinine how charles understands "difficult" family members in general.

in childhood he spent a lots of time trying to be friends w/ cain like bro wasn't hitting him + throwing flammable science chemicals at him at like 11. he's overly concerned w hurting cain while he breaks his things and attacks him

he did not cut ties (or rather, start ignoring him) until cain got them into a horrible car accident he nearly died in 😭

("win his friendship" r u crazy this mf wants you to DIE)

not to mention he chased after cain to stop him from deserting like that was even his problem

so charles is scared af when cain shows up to kill his ass (as one would be).

despite this cain + charles continue to reunite over time, + charles keeps trying to give cain a (frankly abnormal) amount of second chances despite cain being a very consistently violent person

a good distillation of their adult relationship is in xmen legacy where charles tests out reasoning w cain by secretly putting him in a telepathic simulation. cain confirms charles' fears when he kills him in the simulation. he's smarter abt it now but why try in the first place?

(traumabonding for one, but thats a diff post/essay)

something interesting spurrier does is make charles explicitly very nervous + emotionally volatile around david, which i think coincides very well with his behavior around cain , + shows the link between them

so how charles thinks is, his family is dangerous + hates him + that will never change, but he can't abandon them. he's used to his familial role as the placater + the only way to successfully fulfill that is through contingency plans + manipulation + fawning.

but therein lies the issue:

david haller is NOT like brian, cain, kurt, or sharon!!!! he is heavily traumatized, neurodivergent, and neglected. david needs charles to treat him like his SON and not the ticking time bomb charles is predisposed to assume he is!!!

charles' relationship with his x-men is different bc he's in control as the person who brought them together + the patriarch. he's taught them, shaped them after himself.

david, in contrast, is unpredictable. david, as his bio child, cements him in the "traditional" family structure he found no security in. kurt + brian become contemporaries.

when he is forced to acknowledge david, he is most obviously that terrible father he wished not to become

so of course, when he's wrong, when his view of his life is complicated, when he hurts his child who just wants his love + companionship + understanding, he cuts and runs back to the safest thing he knows. the things that make sense

(more on some of the things i mentioned here in my essay on immortal xmen 10 which ive made a pact w myself that i will finish this week. viewing telepathy + related powers as a kind of curse-responsibility is a big part of it too)

addendums from replies:

i forgot to even mention cassandra - suffice it to say he has PLENTY of past traumas reinforcing his very misguided fear of david

i want to see more of charles' relationship with xandra explored on page. i think the biggest difference, beyond the lack of negative history, is that xandra + him are ridiculously similar in everything from personality to levels of responsibility

[legionofalters]

[legionofalters]

Backrooms.

[legionofalters]

Pinterest fed me again

[legionofalters]

Art by Richard Tennant Cooper (1885-1957)

[legionofalters]

Send me a 🐤 for a Tweet my muse would make about yours.

Using this generator.

[legionofalters]

"I- um..." reluctantly, he lowered his hand.

There was a chance he could get the Weaver to rewind time itself, prevent the accident from ever happening - but they weren't seeing eye to eye as late. The beastie liked to sulk. David's power was immense and theoretically infinite, but having dissociative identity disorder meant accessing that power could prove difficult. The Weaver only did what it believed would keep them safe, but like all alters, it represented maladaptive coping strategies and core beliefs, often the evasive kind: its compliance often came with consequences that David didn't want.

Instead, he followed the mysterious woman. "Nice portal... Where are we going?"

David hadn't been there long enough to understand what was happening - he'd found himself in a city he didn't recognise, and the first thing that happens is an explosion? Not exactly how he'd planned to spend his Saturday. It was still Saturday, right?

"Um- that wasn't me, w-was it?" he asked, startled by the elven mutant bossing him about. "Notagainnotagain - wait, no, I can fix this!"

He raised his hand, gesturing behind them at the building. With his power levels, he could fix this without breaking a sweat - provided that Clarice didn't shoo him away before he got the chance, and the beastie in his head would cooperate (the Weaver didn't always see eye to eye with David).

[legionofalters]

Legion by Bill Sienkiewicz

[legionofalters]

i intended to finish the last couple drafts i still owe but instead started making a card and my dudes, this is what i miss the least about this hobby!

also. may i present to you two potential new alters for legion, courtesy of absolute king dan stevens:

the mustachio man. his power is that he has a mustache that rivals jordan white's late handlebar. it spits projectile hairs.

and then there's this dude.... he's just fucking scary

[legionofalters]

[legionofalters]

David Haller + Text Posts (5/?)

[legionofalters]

Might be a long shot, but if there are any roleplayers still lingering in the Legion FX fandom I'd be very interested in writing with you. I'll write any character not just David! Would also be fun to throw alters around if anyone else writes David.

[legionofalters]

Khalid; Winter

[legionofalters]

“Trauma permanently changes us. This is the frightening truth about betrayal. You never really get over it. At best, you grieve and make some kind of peace with it. But a major life disruption leaves a new normal behind. There’s no going back to who you were before.”

— Unknown

[legionofalters]

Personal blogs:

I'm happy for you to follow, like, comment etc on out of character (OOC) posts.

But don't like, reblog, or comment on in character threads or starters I have with another roleplayer. This is basic etiquette and should go without saying. Most roleplayers will block on site if they see a personal interacting in any way, you need to respect that because we have legit reasons for it.

This is not the same as fanfiction. Roleplay is between two writers and is a somewhat private hobby... you can read by all means, but it's bothersome for others to interact. So buzz off.

[legionofalters]

starter for @magnetic-regent-magneto

It wasn't often that David felt valued by someone who truly commanded respect. Years of being beaten down by his father, treated like his disability - his status as a survivor of horrific abuse - made him inherently dangerous and valueless. Magneto wasn't always on the 'right' side, but his experience certainly gave him a more relatable perspective on life. Being a survivor of horrific abuse and all that.

"It's been a long day."

The latest obligatory superhero fight had taken it out of him, emotionally speaking.

"I don't think those Sentinels are coming back until morning. Maybe we should rest."